Accused of being stingy with their money by small businesses, banks retort by saying their hands are tied because of regulatory pressures.

This debate, which has been going on for long, even saw Prime Minister Joseph Muscat recently chide banks publicly for being stringent with credit facilities for businesses.

Now, Economy Shadow Minister Claudio Grech is calling for the matter to be taken up by Parliament’s Economic and Financial Affairs Committee.

Writing in today’s Question Time, Mr Grech argues that, if it really wanted to register progress on the matter, the government should “ditch sound bites” and seek solutions through consensus.

Sound bites is a reference to Dr Muscat’s recent utterances in public that included a description of banks as “glorified safety deposit boxes” reluctant to play an active role in generating economic growth. The criticism was directed towards the two major banks – HSBC and Bank of Valletta – that enjoy a virtual duopoly.

“If this really matters (and we believe it does), we can use the long summer recess to convene as many sessions as necessary of the Economic and Financial Affairs Committee to discuss with the institutions concerned, the constituted bodies, civil society and businesses themselves,” Mr Grech wrote.

This should be done with the clear objective to come up with a set of measures everyone would be willing to support and adopt. The parliamentary committee would not act as a talking shop but undertake “a productive process with a clear outcome”, the Opposition MP added.

Mr Grech said the Opposition would pro-actively participate in this process by proposing ideas and “practical thinking” of how the situation can be improved.

When contacted, committee chairman Silvio Schembri said he had no difficulty having a debate on issues linked to access to finance and bank charges.

“The committee has discussed the matter in the past and I see no problem having another debate on the issues, which will have to be viewed also within the context that government will be setting up a development bank,” Mr Schembri said.

Mr Schembri, who gives the Labour Party’s view in Question Time, argues that it makes sense for banks to help businesses with their investment plans because this would generate economic growth that will in turn benefit banks.

Banks have come under fire from the former Central Bank of Malta governor Josef Bonnici and the GRTU – Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises over their reluctance to align interest rates with those recommended by the European Central Bank and for exorbitant charges.

The GRTU has insisted countless times that banks are being tight-fisted when businesses ask for credit facilities.

The organisation has also hit out at charges levied by banks on all sorts of transactions. A typical example last week was HSBC asking an Italian man to pay €50 for a reference letter.

The Consumer and Competition Authority last year had released a damning report on excessive bank charges but its recommendations have so far not been implemented.

GRTU president Paul Abela told this newspaper last week that his organisation was not informed of any progress on the recommendations.